The Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce its 82nd Annual Pioneer Days Grand Marshal, Ann Underhill Congdon, and Military Grand Marshal, Kim Ortamond.
Ann Congdon spent the first six years of her life on her father’s 1928 homestead just north of Joshua Tree National Park. In those early years, she was underfoot at the family businesses, where her parents, Bill and Prudie Underhill, were publishing the Desert Trail Newspaper and running the 29 Palms Theatre at the corner of Two-Mile Road and Adobe Road (now Combat Barber).
With the announcement that the Marine Corps Base was coming to Twentynine Palms, the Underhills moved “in town” to Broadview and began building the Starlite Twin Drive-In Theatre and roller rink across from today’s post office. Congdon’s jobs grew from folding popcorn boxes to working in the concession stand, to selling tickets, and eventually running the projection machines.
She attended Twentynine Palms schools through high school, holds a BA from Scripps College, Claremont, and Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Ann and Michael Congdon were married at the Little Church of the Desert in June of 1967. Last year they celebrated their 50th anniversary with their two daughters and husbands and four granddaughters.
Congdon practiced architecture in Washington, D.C., for 20 years, where she designed and provided construction administration for renovations and additions to DC-area health care facilities. She also worked with nonprofit organizations focused on developing training and educational facilities and special needs residences for the homeless, physically challenged, and aging.
Prior to her architecture degree, she had her own graphics studio in Washington, D.C., specializing in the design and production of newsletters, brochures, posters, and exhibition catalogs for the Washington Women’s Art Center, artists, and arts-related, community action, and nonprofit organizations.
The Congdons lived in Washington, D.C. for more than 35 years. Residential tours in other U.S. cities and abroad provided opportunities to study, teach, and produce graphic and exhibit design for the US Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and the U.S. Information Service in Vienna, Austria. She has traveled in Western and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, and extensively in the United States.
Upon retirement, the Congdons returned to Twentynine Palms. They live in a 1938 Stubbs adobe and proudly share the beauty and tranquility of the desert with guests at their Airbnb, Broadview Hacienda. Congdon continues to work with nonprofit groups concerned with preserving the environment and a sustainable desert community. She serves on the Tourism Business Improvement District Committee, the Public Arts Advisory Committee of the City of Twentynine Palms and is currently President of Sky’s The Limit Observatory and Nature Center. Congdon’s ARCHIFACTS, compositions of salvaged construction materials and found objects, have been exhibited in galleries in Annapolis and the Hi-Desert, and are in private collections on both coasts.
Kim Ortamond was born on a pickup seat on its way to Laramie, Wyoming after her mom’s horse took a stumble moving cattle. Ortamond grew up in Northern Colorado and later Northern Idaho, raising and showing horses and livestock. She has won multitudes of awards local, state, and national showing horses both English and Western. She went to 4-H Congress for public speaking and state livestock judging team. Ortamond also enjoyed hunting and competing in shooting events along with helping her father on weekends with his auctioneering business. This is where Ortamond also learned to auctioneer.
During Ortamond’s junior and senior year in high school, she started ponying and exercising at the local racetrack for a family friend as a job. She then moved on to be a jockey. The money was good, but extremely rough lifestyle. Ortamond was studying pre-veterinarian, but one weekend a group of girlfriends decided to join the Marine Corps. Out of the group of five, she was the only one that made it a career. Ortamond went to bootcamp November 1976 where she spent Christmas. Her mother as a joke sent a “horse turd” as a gift from her horse, a gift that went over very well.
Ortamond came to Twentynine Palms February 1977 for Communications-Electronics School. The desert was a huge culture shock for a great northern Pacific girl. Once graduated as a grounded radio repairman, she was assigned to Marine Corps Combat Center Base radio/telephone which was directly across from the base stables. She then immediately worked on getting her horse to Twentynine Palms.
In June of 1979, Ortamond was named the United States Military Rodeo Queen. “It was awesome, I got to travel all over representing the Marine Corps on horseback. It was during this time that I met my artillery man husband Bill Ortamond at the base stables. He really liked my horses and I honestly think that is why he married me. We got married on horseback in the brand-new barn at the Combat Center during 1980 Pioneer Days. The whole wedding was party was feeling it for the morning Parade and Rodeo that afternoon.”
In 1982, Ortamond was named Pioneer Days Rodeo Queen and in 1984, the Combat Center Rodeo Queen. The Ortamonds helped and competed along with their two daughters in numerous horse events throughout southern California. Over the years, Ortamond helped with Pioneer Days and many other community events. She always helped her platoon enter in several Pioneer Days events such as outhouse races, arm wrestling, tug-o-wars, and demolition derbies.
Ortamond has learned many of her horse skills from top-notch horsemen, but the one that has made the biggest impact on her as a leader of Marines, horsewoman, and the way she lives life, is the legendary horseman Ray Hunt. They became close family friends and were given the opportunity to help and travel with Ray and his wife Carolyn in the U.S. and abroad.
In 1999 Ortamond was asked to evaluate the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard in Barstow. After her evaluation, she agreed to take charge and make big changes in the Marines and horses, which were BLM wild mustangs. From what Ortamond learned from Ray Hunt, she did a lot of work retraining the older horses and four new young mustangs. She also taught the Marines to re-think how they handled the horses and not to have a perceived conception of the horses because they were mustangs. Soon many noticed a huge difference in how the Marines and horses preformed. Due to this, the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard was given the distinction of leading the 2000 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, along with many other parades.
Master Gunnery Sergeant Kim Ortamond retired from Barstow in January 2005 with 28 years of distinguished service. Kim and Bill live in Twentynine Palms with their animals. They still work with the human and horses to better their horsemanship skills. Ortamond is still very active in the community and she loves the desert. In the desert you can just get on your horse and ride.
For more information on the 2018 82nd Annual Pioneer Days, or the Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce, call Board President and Executive Director Jacob Smith at 760-367-3445, or visit the website at www.29chamber.org/events
